SCAPPOOSE, Ore. -- The landslide winner of the Republican primary in Oregon's 1st Congressional District says he might switch to the fledgling Independent Party of Oregon.

Joel Haugen, a Scappoose business owner, said fellow Republicans have turned against him because he supports Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Haugen told the McMinnville News-Register that he's talking to Independent Party officials and will soon decide whether to run on that ticket instead.

If Haugen switches, Republicans would be left without a candidate to oppose Democratic incumbent David Wu in November.

Haugen defeated social conservative Claude Chappell in the May primary, taking more than 70 percent of the vote. Haugen said it was around that time that he told party officials of his plans to endorse Obama.

In June, he contacted key Republicans in each of the 1st district's four counties, Clatsop, Columbia, Washington and Yamhill, offering to facilitate a bipartisan discussion about energy policy. He said he saw it an issue reaching across party lines.

Haugen got no positive responses, and got a decidedly negative one from Yamhill County. Neal Lockhart, a local party activist who serves as the county's Republican Central Committee spokesman, told Haugen that no true Republican would think of helping him.

He went on to tell Haugen, who provided a copy of the exchange to the News-Register: "You are not a real Republican, you are a shill... You are exactly what I have warned everyone about. Please do us a favor, quit the party."

Contacted Wednesday for a response, Lockhart said the local central committee had drafted a statement about Haugen that it planned to make public in the fall. But for now, he said, "The official line from Yamhill County Republicans is, we have no comment."

Haugen said Republicans would not allow him access to party booths at community festivals in Columbia and Yamhill counties, and has barred him from participating in a nominating convention scheduled this weekend to decide who will represent the party at its national convention in September.

The Independent Party, founded last year, has 12,500 members, making it Oregon's fourth-largest behind Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians.